Someone Worth Dying For
by rewob17
Summary: NOT a death fic despite the title. Steve is injured in a raid while trying to save Danny, and while Danny waits in the hospital, he wonders why Steve would risk his life for him. Danny whump with some Steve whump and Danny angst thrown in for good measure.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: My thanks, as always, to Fifilla for reading and rereading this story and helping me figure out a direction when all I started with was a title! Thank you also to Wenwalke for proofreading. Any mistakes in the story are my own. This was going to be a one-shot, but it ended up a bit long for that so I think two chapters will do it.

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For a man on crutches, Danny Williams managed to pace very well. Of course, he'd had a lot of practice in the last six days. He paused momentarily to gaze out the window, but his eyes did not see the beautiful Hawaiian sunset or the nearby palm trees swaying in the gentle breeze. His mind's eye saw a dark warehouse and lots of pain. He quickly swung himself around as if to erase that memory, but the memory from the warehouse followed him. He stopped his pacing next to the hospital bed that contained his unconscious partner. He ignored the throbbing in his left ankle as he studied his partner's face.

Without looking, Danny sat in the chair next to the hospital bed. It was right where he knew it would be. Right where it had been for the last six days. He sighed and whispered, "You're a fool, Steve. Why would you do that?"

Steve's response was the same as it had been for the last six days. Silence broken only by the sound of the beeping hospital monitors attached to him.

Danny continued to sit with his partner and will him to wake up. As the sixth day turned into the seventh, his eyes involuntarily closed and he couldn't help but see the dark warehouse in his dreams.

H

5

0

Late on a Friday afternoon HPD called Five-0 requesting their assistance on a raid about to take place. The raid on the suspected chop shop had been planned by HPD and SWAT, but a last minute tip from an anonymous source claimed the chop shop was in league with a home grown terrorist group. Hence Five-0's last minute addition to the party.

Commander Steve McGarrett worked with HPD and SWAT as the rest of the team geared up. Steve jogged back to his group as they finished up their last minute preparations. Danny cinched his vest tight one more time while Chin made sure he had enough rounds for his trusty shotgun as well as his handgun. Kono, sniper rifle slung over her shoulder, fiddled with her earpiece. "Okay, guys, we're going to be lead on this little operation."

"Joy," Danny snarked.

Ignoring his partner, Steve continued, "Their Intel is a little sketchy, but the warehouse is suspected of being a chop shop as well as a storage area for other illegal and smuggled goods. A last minute tip led SWAT to believe that there may also be a wannabe terrorist cell hiding out here. That's why we're here."

"Any idea how many hostiles may be inside?" Chin wondered.

Steve shook his head, "No idea."

"Even more joy," Danny added.

"I'm going to take half of the SWAT team with me and breach from the main doors on the west side. Kono, I want you to gain entrance from the north fire escape - get up high and get me eyes up top and have your rifle ready. Three SWAT guys are with you."

Kono nodded as she patted the stock of her sniper rifle, "Got it, Boss."

"Chin, I want you to go round to the south and get in there with three SWAT guys and make sure no one goes out that way."

"Danny, you're going to take the rest of SWAT and go in from the east. We're going to box 'em in and make sure no one gets out again. HPD is going to hold the perimeter just in case."

Two minutes later they were all quietly leading their groups around the block to their respective positions. They halted and waited only a split second before hearing Steve over the comm units,_ "Team One in position."_

_"Team Two in position,"_ Kono responded.

_"Team Three in position,"_ Chin confirmed.

There was a pause and Steve came back on, _"Team Four, you in position? Danny, you okay?"_

"Hang on," Danny hissed.

"_Danny?"_ Steve's voice was laced with worry. "_What's going on?"_

"Hang on," Danny insisted, annoyance creeping into his tone.

"_All teams hold,"_ Steve instructed. "_Team Four needs some time."_

Danny's team had crept around the corner and just as they were about to step from behind the cover of the bordering hedge, Danny caught movement from a shadow near the building. He halted his team while he and one of the SWAT members peered around the corner searching for more movement. It was very dark on their side of the warehouse so it took them a moment to find the other figure on the opposite side of the door, also in shadow. "We've got movement outside of our entry point," Danny relayed to the rest.

"_Do you need help?"_ Steve wondered.

"I got this," Danny insisted. "Just give me a minute."

Danny and his team quickly conferred before going about their plan. One SWAT officer kept watch from the corner while Danny and the two others circled around and silently approached. Danny grinned as he watched the two sentries stop less than ten feet from their position. One man held out a cigarette while the other reached in his pocket and produced a lighter. Danny signaled and without a sound, he and his officers quickly knocked the two men out and had them secured with zip ties almost before the unlit cigarette hit the ground.

"Alright, we've taken out two hostiles and Team Four is now in position," Danny relayed.

Steve took one last look around and gave the order to proceed,_ "All teams go! Move in."_

Danny heard the "Go" order and quickly led his team inside the rear entrance of the warehouse. Despite the two sentries they'd taken out, the door was unlocked, giving them easy access. A small part of Danny's brain wondered about that fact.

Danny let the commands and other sounds from the take down coming through his earpiece flow around him as he took in his surroundings. His side of the warehouse was dark though the other side, where Steve's team breached, was full of light. Danny could just make out that fact through a walk-in door set in the middle of a dividing wall separating the two sections of the warehouse. As expected, it sounded like the majority of the suspects were there as he heard shouted orders to put down weapons and get on the ground. He motioned for his team to fan out and slowly advance towards the far side of the warehouse where the action was taking place. He heard the crack of Kono's sniper rifle and smiled grimly; hopefully that would be incentive for the rest to put their weapons down and surrender. After a moment, it sounded like that's exactly what happened.

Danny kept a careful eye out for anyone trying to escape past them. Despite the fact that it seemed the raid was wrapping up without much issue, Danny felt uneasy and had a nagging feeling of impending disaster that kept him alert. His eyes scanned the gloomy shadows ahead and up to the walkways and dark offices overlooking the open floor space. His gaze dropped back to the ground floor, but a sixth sense told him to look back up at the walkway again. As he did, he caught a flash of light off metal, "Sniper! Team Four take cover!"

Danny saw the three SWAT officers quickly dive for cover as he dove behind a stripped car up on jacks. It wasn't much cover considering it was up off the ground and the wheels had been removed, but he did his best to make himself small at the rear of the car as he carefully peered around to assess the situation. Shots peppered the car and ground around him.

"_Danny?!"_ Steve's shout in his ear caused Danny to jump. "_You okay? What's going on?"_

"We're taking sniper fire," Danny told him as he crouched next to the car, keeping his head down while still trying to look around to see if he could return fire.

"_Stay down, we're on our way."_

"Stay down, the man says," grunted Danny as three more rounds rocked the car he was hiding behind.

"_What was that, Danny?"_ Steve paused from giving directions to a SWAT officer he was putting in charge of the suspects already in custody. "_Where are you exactly?"_

"I'm behind what looks to be a 1967 Ford Mustang that has seen better days," Danny cringed as the car rocked and then tilted dangerously as the jack under the front of the car gave out, leaving it resting on only the jack holding up the front end where Danny crouched. "But it's not going to last much longer."

"_Hang on_," Steve urged.

"I'm gonna have to move," Danny told him as the car started to sway and rock. "There are a dozen cars up on blocks. I'm going for one of the others."

"_Are you sure you can make it?"_ Steve worried.

"No choice," Danny grunted as he calculated his target cover not ten feet away. As Danny started to raise himself out of his crouch to make the dash to his newly selected cover, he felt a punch to his chest as a bullet from the unseen shooter lodged in his vest. The shot knocked him flat on his back, breathless and dazed.

_"Danny?"_ Steve heard the tell-tale grunt followed by a dull thump over his comm unit. _"Danny, you okay? You hit?"_

Danny tried to gulp in a lungful of air but for a few panicked seconds was unable to get his body to cooperate. As he struggled for breath, he watched as the remaining jack supporting the car gave out, tilted and almost gracefully tipped over: right onto Danny's left ankle and lower leg, effectively pinning him in place. Danny finally found his breath and had to bite his lower lip to prevent himself from screaming as he felt something bend and break in his ankle.

"_Danny?"_ Steve suppressed a shudder as he heard his partner's moan. _"Talk to me, Danny! Are you hit?"_

"Yes, but no," Danny gasped. "Took one in the vest, but I'm okay. The damn car fell on me. I can't move."

_"Okay, hold on,"_ Steve reassured him. _"We're almost there. We're at the divider between the two sides. Where's the shooter?"_

"Up on the catwalk somewhere. I can't see... wait! There he is! Steve, stay back!"

_"Danny, what's going on?"_ Steve didn't get any farther before he was interrupted by the sound of automatic rifle fire strafing the dividing wall they were currently behind.

"Steve, you guys okay?" It was Danny's turn to worry about his friend's safety.

_"Yeah, thanks for the warning. Can you still see him?"_

"Mostly, and I think there might be two of them." Danny explained. "Wait, they're doing something else. I can't see..." Danny was interrupted by a small explosion to his left, "Grenades! They have grenades. You guys need to fall back."

_"I'm coming in to get you, Danny,"_ Steve's tone brooked no arguments, for anyone other than his partner anyway.

"No, you're not, Steven," Danny growled. "Perhaps you missed the part about them having automatic weapons and grenades. "Fall back and regroup. I'm not going anywhere."

_"Exactly!"_ Steve argued right back. _"You're not going anywhere so I'm going to come get you out of there."_

"It's not worth it, Steve. You'll never make it with them lobbing grenades all over the place."

_"I've done it before, buddy,"_ Steve informed him. _"And it _is_ worth it so just hang on a minute."_

"You're never going to be able to get this car off of me by yourself," Danny pleaded. "Don't worry about me and just figure out how to stop those maniacs."

Steve cautiously peered through the doorway and took in the situation. He holstered his gun and pointed at the SWAT captain, "I'm going to go get my partner. Cover me if you can, but keep your heads down. Danny, I'm headed your way."

Danny shook his head and tried to see what the suspects were up to on the overhead catwalk, "You're a stubborn Neanderthal, you know that? Looks like our friends are busy with something so go now while you can. I'll try to keep an eye on them."

Steve dashed through the walk-in door and made it to the second car up on blocks before the shooters resumed firing. Danny cringed as more rounds hit the car pinning him to the ground. He couldn't see Steve, but he could see shadowy movements on the catwalk, "Steve, keep your head down. I have eyes on the suspects on the catwalk. I'll tell you when you can move. Team Four, sound off! Everyone okay? Anyone in position to take out the shooters?"

_"Jenkins here. Every time I move they start shooting at me. I don't have a real good angle on them."_

"Stay down then, Jenkins," Danny told him, "Lee, what about you?"

_"Sorry, sir, I'm down. I took a round in the leg and the arm. I lost my gun when they hit my arm. I can see it, but I can't get it."_

"Hang on, Lee," Danny told him as he gritted his teeth against the pain in his own leg. "My crazy partner is working his way over, and I always have EMS on standby when he's around."

_"Yes, sir. I'm fine."_

"Donaldson, what about you?"

_"I'm under the catwalk, sir, so I'm no help. I can see you, but I can't get over there."_

"No, stay under cover, Donaldson." Danny ordered. "Be ready to help if possible."

_"Danny?"_ Steve wondered.

"Hang on a minute," Danny shifted to get a better look at the activity on the catwalk and hissed in pain as he jostled his leg. "Okay, the one guy is kneeling down messing with something... Now, Steve! Both guys are looking down. Go!"

Without hesitation, Steve dashed in a crouch and as he rounded the third car, finally caught sight of his partner. Eyes fixed on his target, he didn't see the new danger from the catwalk, but he did see the look on Danny's face. He had no time to react or question what made his partner's eyes go wide before his world was turned upside down.

For Danny, time seemed to slow as he told Steve to move. He had no time to shout a warning, and it was far too late to take back his command to go. Whatever came next he felt was entirely on his own shoulders. He watched in horror as the two suspects stood with military grade grenade launchers on their shoulders.

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A/N: I know, I know, I'm evil. Blame Fifilla, the queen of the cliffhangers, she told me this would be a great place to put the chapter break. :-)


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thank you to all who have taken the time to leave a review. Here is the final chapter so people will forgive me for that evil cliffie yesterday. One of my original characters, Doctor Lee, makes an appearance, but you won't have to have read any of my other stories before this one unless you really want to...

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The twin explosions hit almost exactly where Steve had just been taking cover and still perilously close behind him. Danny watched as the force of the explosions picked his partner up and propelled him closer. Unfortunately, the blast also lifted two of the cars off of the blocks they were resting on, broke them into large pieces and flung them at Steve. He felt intense pain and then nothing, unconscious by the time he landed across his trapped partner.

Danny was shielded by most of the blast and had flung an arm over his face as debris started raining down. The breath was knocked out of him again as something solid landed on his torso. He moved his arm and after a moment realized that that something solid was, in fact, his partner.

Danny wouldn't remember much past this point as everything seemed to speed up, and he had trouble focusing on the action. As he tried to rouse his partner, he heard more yelling and shots as if from a distance but no more explosions. He was startled to find an EMT kneeling next to him suddenly. He saw the man's mouth move, but could barely hear a thing.

"It's okay, sir," the EMT assured him when he noticed Danny straining to hear him. "Your hearing has been affected by proximity to the blast. It'll probably come back soon."

Danny waved him off, "Just take care of Steve. I'm fine"

The EMT raised an eyebrow at the use of "fine" to describe his condition, but it was obvious to him that the other man did indeed need the attention first and set to work.

Danny flinched as someone touched his shoulder. He hadn't heard anyone approach and was surprised to find Chin and Kono kneeling next to him looking concerned. "You okay, Brah? What happened?"

Danny was relieved to find the buzzing in his ears was diminishing to a mere annoyance, and he could already hear better than just a few minutes ago. "I hope your side of the takedown worked better than this side."

Chin smiled at the attempt at a joke, "We've got them all taken care of. It seems the suspects over here on your side were a little friskier than the others."

"SWAT's thinking those two up on the catwalk were the reason for the tip they received," Kono informed him.

"But don't worry about it, Brah," Chin reassured him. "They've been taken care of."

Danny glanced over at the two EMT's still working on Steve. They'd rolled him off Danny and onto a backboard and were hastily taking vitals and preparing him for transport. Danny heard phrases like "head injury" and "possible internal injury" as they relayed information to each other and by radio to the waiting hospital. He tore his gaze from them to look up at Chin, "So what's the damage? Other than us, that is."

Officer Lee took one in the arm and leg, but paramedics say he'll be fine. The only casualties are on the other side."

"Good," Danny nodded. "Good."

"Firefighters are on the way to get this car off of you safely," Chin informed him.

Danny nodded, and glanced again at Steve. It looked like the paramedics were ready to transport, "Kono, go with Steve, will you? I want to know what's going on."

"Of course," Kono smiled and patted his shoulder before following the gurney to the waiting ambulance.

The following moments were a jumble of pain and noise for Danny as the firefighters arrived and worked on freeing him from the twisted remains of the classic car. At some point the paramedics treating him gave him morphine which made the scene even more surreal to him as he started to zone and go numb with the medicine coursing through his veins. He remembered nothing after losing consciousness in the ambulance.

H

5

0

Danny awoke to a light touch on his arm and opened his eyes to find a concerned nurse bending over him, "Sir, are you okay?"

"Hmm... what?" Danny sat up straighter in the chair, needing a moment to remember where he was. One look at his partner reminded him all too clearly that his dream wasn't just a dream, but an all too disturbing reality.

"Are you okay?" The young nurse asked again. "I thought I heard moaning. I came to check to see if everything was alright." She gestured to his casted leg. "Do you need some pain medicine?"

"No," Danny stood and stretched as best he could while maintaining his balance with the crutches. "I just need my idiot partner there to wake up."

"Yes, sir," the young nurse smiled gently at him. "Just let us know if you need anything else."

As the nurse quietly left, Danny once again started pacing the small confines of the hospital room. He paused momentarily to peer out the window, noticing the first small smudge of color in the dark pre-dawn sky. He resumed his pacing, trying not to let his thoughts get too far out of control.

"Would you stop that?" a raspy voice interrupted Danny's pacing. "You're making me dizzy."

Danny's crutches teetered as he did an abrupt about face and almost fell as a crutch slipped from the sudden movement. He quickly righted himself and hopped over to the bed, "Hey, you're awake."

"Sort of," Steve grimaced and blinked slowly. "What happened?"

Definitely the wrong question for Danny who had been on pins and needles for the last week, "What happened?! What happened is that you didn't listen to me and made a stupid boneheaded move that almost cost you your life. You got yourself blown six ways to Sunday, and we've all been worried sick for the past week. How could I explain it to Grace if you got yourself killed, huh?"

"Sorry, Danno," Steve's expression was truly contrite even as he tried to make sense of Danny's heated rant.

Danny took a deep breath. That was not how he meant to react when his partner finally regained consciousness. He quickly hit the nurse call button and deftly balanced the crutches even as he lifted a hand to run it through his hair, "Sorry, that's not what I meant to say... it's just that... just sorry."

Danny was saved from more of an explanation by the same young nurse coming back into the room. She quickly saw her patient was awake and smiled, "Oh, good, you're awake! I'll page the doctor. I just need to get some quick readings here."

Danny hopped away again and leaned next to the window sill as the nurse did her job. He was relieved that Steve was awake and already felt bad for blowing up at him so quickly. Danny continued to mentally beat himself up over his recent browbeating while the doctor came in and expertly examined Steve. Danny was relieved to see that the doctor was Doctor Lee at last. He'd requested Doctor Lee when he had first arrived but had been told he was on vacation. Doctor Lee had treated Danny before and knew the team. The doctors who had rotated through filling in on Doctor Lee's shifts had been less than understanding about Danny's need to stay by his partner's side. They'd kicked him out a few times though Danny had always snuck back in quickly enough that they'd quit kicking him out and settled for dirty looks when the detective was ever-present.

After a few minutes, the doctor gently patted Steve on the shoulder and smiled, "Get some rest, Son, you're doing fine." He turned to Danny and gestured for him to follow him out the door.

Danny hesitantly followed only after assuring himself that Steve was really sleeping again. He thought his friend already looked better and more relaxed in sleep than he had before. "How is he, Doc?"

"Improving," Doctor Lee smiled. "I don't want to jump the gun here since I reviewed his case when I got back, but it would seem that he is out of the woods. He was able to answer basic questions like name..."

"Name, rank and serial number probably," Danny muttered.

"He still needs plenty of time to rest so his body can recover from the trauma, but at this point, things are looking promising."

Danny's brow furrowed, "He didn't remember what happened to put him here. That's normal, right?"

"Yes," the doctor nodded. "Short term memory loss is common after this sort of trauma. He'll probably remember more as he recovers. And now, Detective, I think you should go home and get some rest."

"I'm fine," Danny waved him off.

"You are injured as well," Doctor Lee pointed out. "From what I hear, you've been here more than you've not, and though I'm sure you'll tell me that you're eating and sleeping, vending machine food and cat naps in that lousy chair don't count."

Danny looked about to argue and then simply nodded, "Sure. I'll go soon. Thanks, Doc."

"You're welcome, Detective," the doctor squinted, suspicious at the easy acceptance of his suggestion. "I'll be back this afternoon to check on him and can give you a better idea then about his recovery." He watched as Danny turned and went back into Steve's room and settled back into the chair at his friend's side. Doctor Lee watched him a moment before he shook his head and walked away.

Danny studied Steve's prone form and sighed. A little of the worry that had been his constant companion for the last week had lifted but had not left entirely. He had every intention of following doctor's orders and going home, but the more he sat, the more he found he couldn't bring himself to leave. He kept thinking of all the what-ifs and repercussions of Steve not recovering fully from his injuries. After almost an hour, his thoughts were interrupted by a noise at the door. He looked over to find two nurses carrying a cot into the room.

"Doctor Lee thought you might like this," one nurse explained.

"He said if you wouldn't follow his suggestion to go home and get some rest, he'd make sure you'd at least get some rest here," the other chimed in with a smile.

They quickly set up the cot and found him blankets and a pillow. One of them even came back several minutes later with more blankets which she positioned at the foot of the bed so he could prop up his injured ankle. As Danny settled onto the cot, he made a mental note to thank Doctor Lee and all the nurses that had helped over the last week. He popped a pain pill for his throbbing ankle and settled onto the cot. He glanced over at Steve one last time and his final thought before letting sleep claim him was to wonder again what his partner had been thinking trying to come save him when there was no chance of getting him out of there and every chance that he could have been killed in the process.

H

5

0

Danny woke several hours later with the midday Hawaiian sun streaming in. He was relieved to note that his ankle was not throbbing any more, but he hadn't tried to move it yet either. He stretched, tentatively moving his left leg, pleased to find that it felt better than it had in the last week.

"You look like a cat stretching," a voice teased.

Danny quickly swung his feet off the cot and immediately regretted the sudden movement as he swayed from momentary dizziness and his left ankle started throbbing again, "Good to see your Ninja skills didn't suffer injury," Danny retorted.

"Sorry," Steve truly did look apologetic.

Danny maneuvered the short distance to the chair and plopped down to regard his friend, "Listen, about before..."

Steve tiredly waved a hand to interrupt, "Don't apologize. I remember what happened now, and I can understand why you're upset... And, uh, a nurse was in while you were still sleeping and told me you've been sitting here for the last week. Sorry to worry you."

Danny was uncharacteristically quiet as he looked at his friend and gathered his thoughts. The silence stretched for a full minute before he thought he could ask his question without either yelling at his stubborn friend or breaking down in tears at the thought that they had come very close to never having this conversation, or any other conversation, ever again.

Steve watched as Danny thought of his response and waited for the epic rant he was sure was headed his way.

"I just want to know why," Danny quietly wondered. "What were you thinking? There was no way you could have gotten that car off of me by yourself so what purpose did it serve for you to run out into the middle of nowhere to get yourself blown up? Why would you do that? We could have both been killed."

"You needed help," Steve shrugged and then shifted so he was leaning on his side more and could look at his partner better. You were taking fire and were trapped. I couldn't just stay back and do nothing."

"It wasn't worth it," Danny told him. "It wasn't worth you almost dying! You shouldn't have risked your life just to save me."

"That's where you're wrong," Steve insisted. "Like it or not, Danno,_ you_ are someone worth dying for. I would do it all over again even if I knew I was going to be killed because I refuse to just stand by and watch someone try to kill you."

Danny sat for a moment and regarded his partner, best friend, and brother all wrapped into one frequently annoying and often frustrating SEAL. He finally shook his head and smiled, "You're a goof, you know that?"

Steve smirked and nodded, "You should be used to it by now, Pal."

Danny's grin widened as he propped his injured foot onto the side of Steve's bed, "It's good to have you back."

"Trust me," Steve groaned. "It's good to be back."

Danny didn't leave the hospital for the next three days as Steve continued to recover at a "miraculous rate" according to Doctor Lee. Chin and Kono supplied him with fresh clothes and the occasional malasada, but Danny happily refused to leave the hospital grounds until Steve was released citing the man's tendency to get into trouble without Danny around for backup. "Besides," Danny pointed out, "Doctor Lee told me to get some rest and gave me this cot, and I intend to use his thoughtful gift for as long as possible."

When Steve was finally released, Doctor Lee watched him walk out of the hospital, Danny at his side, and hoped that they could both stay out of trouble long enough to heal from their wounds.

* * *

The End :-) Thank you for reading.


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